Mike Penn was born on March 13, 1946, in Dallas, Texas. He worked as a Police Officer in Fort Worth, Texas, while attending the University of Texas in Arlington, Texas, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in June 1969. He entered the Navy Jet Flight Training Program at NAS Pensacola, Florida, on August 26, 1969, and was commissioned through Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School. He was designated a Naval Aviator at NAS Kingsville, Texas, in April 1971, and then completed A-7 Corsair II Replacement Pilot Training with VA-125 at NAS Lemoore, California. LtJg Penn next served as an A-7B Corsair II pilot with VA-56 at NAS Lemoore, California, and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41). He began flying combat missions over Southeast Asia in May 1972, and was forced to eject from his stricken A-7B over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on August 6, 1972. LtJg Penn was shot down on his 75th combat mission. After spending 236 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on March 29, 1973. After being briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, California, LT Penn attended F-4 Phantom II Replacement Pilot Training with VF-121 at NAS Miramar, California, and then remained with the unit as an Instructor Pilot. He next attended A-7 Replacement Pilot Training with VA-122 at NAS Lemoore, and then served as an A-7 Instructor Pilot before transferring to VA-25 at NAS Lemoore as an A-7E pilot from 1976 until he left active duty on May 31, 1978. LT Penn remained in the Navy Reserve for two years after leaving active duty, and he spent 30 years as a Boeing 737 Captain, Check Airman, and Chief Pilot with Southwest Airlines in Houston, Texas.